Go for gold

uvex heads into the Alpine Ski World Championships in Courchevel / Méribel with bright prospects.

The ski world is turning its gaze to Savoie in the French Alps: the 47th Alpine Ski World Championships will be held here in Courchevel and Méribel from February 6^th to 19^th, 2023. The two winter sports resorts are part of the Trois Vallées ski area, the largest connected ski area in the world with 180 lifts and around 600 km of slopes.

uvex athlete-check for the championship

Alpine Combined

Courchevel and Méribel are cult. Pure winter sports. And ready for the alpine showdown when the best of the best will be determined in 13 races.

In Méribel, the women's races as well as the parallel races and the team competition are on the programme. In Courchevel, 30 km away, the men's competitions will take place.

L’Eclipse

– a slope for extreme performances

For the men's speed disciplines, a slope is ready that was opened just two years ago and will ensure fascinating scenes: The "L'Eclipse" starts at an altitude of 2,244 meters, stretches over a length of 3,200 meters and almost 1,000 vertical meters down to Courchevel.

Up to 61 (!) percent gradients, technically highly demanding jumps and constantly changing light-shadow conditions: The experts agree that the "L'Eclipse" can compete in terms of difficulty with the legendary downhill races such as the "Streif" (Kitzbühel) or "Stelvio" (Bormio).

It will be spectacular! And it will remain exciting until the last day – when the slalom specialists compete for gold, silver and bronze on the final weekend of the World Championships.

The road to success leads to France

At the 2021 Alpine Ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, uvex athletes have already won seven medals.

Katharina Liensberger (AUT) became double world champion in slalom and parallel race, in addition she took the bronze medal in giant slalom. Kira Weidle (GER, Downhill), Romed Baumann (GER, Super-G) and Andreas Sander (GER, Downhill) each won silver, the German team also took home the bronze medal.

Now the cards are reshuffled in the French Alps. Or rather: the edges are being resharpened! The perfect opportunity for a form check of our world championship starters in the various disciplines.

Alpine Combined

The alpine combination of super-G and slalom is always a surprise package. Many have a chance – from slalom racers who take heart in the Super-G to technically skilled speed specialists. Looking through uvex goggles: top candidate for a medal in the men's event is Olympic champion Johannes Strolz (AUT), who won gold in the Alpine combined at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing a year ago.

Super-G

At the Super-G in Méribel, Cornelia Hütter (AUT) can hope for a top finish after two second places in Super-G this season. Frenchwoman Romane Miradoli could also be good for a surprise at her World Championships at home.

One day later in Courchevel, Romed Baumann (GER) and Andreas Sander (GER) are two racers who can be expected to do anything at a major event. Just like at the World Championships in Cortina in 2021, when Romed surprisingly became silver medalist.

Downhill

Kira Weidle (GER) took a celebrated silver medal at the World Cup two years ago. Now she has regained her momentum just in time, racing onto the podium in the last World Cup downhill before the World Championships in France.

The men's downhill on "L'Eclipse" is one of the highlights of this World Championships. The German starters will be decided after the downhill training sessions: In addition to Vice World Champion Andreas Sander, Romed Baumann, Thomas Dreßen, Josef Ferstl and Simon Jocher are also in line for the four starting places.

In any case: a team with plenty of surprise potential! If the course is icy, Dominik Paris (ITA) is also likely to make a podium run.

And then there is: the skiing legend Johan Clarey!

The Frenchman holds the record as the oldest medal winner at the Olympic Games (Silver, Beijing 2022) as well as at World Championships (Silver, Åre 2019) and will be competing in Courchevel. Old iron? No way! Johan just finished second on the "Streif" in Kitzbühel ... at the age of 42.

Team Event

Each nation competes with two female and two male riders, and the team also includes two reserve riders. At the 2022 Olympic Games, Austria won gold ahead of Germany, which took silver. Both teams are also among the title favorites in France.

The uvex team is expected to include: Franziska Gritsch (AUT), Katharina Huber (AUT), Katharina Liensberger (AUT), Johannes Strolz (AUT) as well as Emma Aicher (GER), Lena Dürr (GER), Alexander Schmid (GER) and Linus Strasser (GER).

The exact line-up of the team will be decided and announced shortly before the competition.

Parallel Race

In this still young discipline there are always surprises. On the short race course, it is not uncommon for athletes to rise to the top who were not really on anyone's radar. But who definitely has to be considered here: Katharina Liensberger (AUT), who will start as the reigning World Champion.

Giant Slalom

In the women's giant slalom, in addition to Katharina Liensberger (AUT), Franziska Gritsch (AUT), who has already won six medals at junior world championships and could now also score a success on the very big stage, is to be noted.

In the men's race, Alexander Schmid (GER) can be expected to achieve a top result: In the five giant slalom races this season, the athlete from Oberstdorf always finished among the top 9.

Slalom

The chances for medals are excellent! Katharina Liensberger (AUT) will compete as defending champion. Lena Dürr won the last World Cup slalom before the World Championships in Spindleruv Mlyn and is also a good bet for the slalom podium in Méribel.

In the men's race we are looking at Linus Strasser (GER): In the current season he has finally established himself among the absolute world's top slalom racers, most recently standing on the podium in the classics of Madonna di Campiglio and Adelboden and recording two more top 4 results in January (Wengen, Kitzbühel).

Also on the list and always good for a coup: the two Olympic slalom silver medalists Johannes Strolz (silver medal in Beijing 2022) and Ramon Zenhäusern (silver in Pyeongchang 2018) as well as the Italian Alex Vinatzer, junior world champion in slalom 2019.

Whoever may have the ski tips in front at the end: We wish all athletes much success. Golden moments. And unforgettable memories.